Anxiety while driving...vertigo, traffic and bridges

[Zelda28]

About 2 years ago I had a very sudden and acute fear of driving over bridges.  It came out of nowhere!  I was pregnant with daughter at the time and was very swollen/off balance with the pregnancy.  It felt like my car would just go over the side and I was petrified.  Since then, I have avoided bridges that I deem 'too risky' - low sides, very high, feeling like you aren't touching the ground, etc.  I feel as if I'm crazy!  To make matters worse, I had a recent episode of vertigo while driving in the city (no bridges, no highway).  I am now extremely anxious to drive anywhere and feel that my anxiety is perpetuating my vertigo symptoms of chronic dizziness and unsteadiness.  When I get in the car, if I even start to 'space out' for a minute or if my sinuses drain, I feel like I'm going to have the vertigo again.  Any help out there would be appreicated.  I have seen an ENT, going for Vestibular Rehab consult tomorrow and  a Neurologist next week. I just want it to stop - I feel like  my world is getting smaller by the minute b/c of this (irrational) fear.

[Stephy3026]

Hey!! I see that you wrote this in 2010 which is now about 7 years ago so I'm not sure if you will even see my response. But I am a little relieved to see someone else is experiencing the same exact thing as I am. I was never scared of bridges and out of no where I just had a sudden fear of my car falling off that caused me to sweat, getting extremely dizzy as if I was going to pass out and even my vision seemed a little weird until I was off the bridge. But then there was times I could be just driving on the turnpike with several lanes and I would start feeling it all over again. I wanted to reach out since it's been so long to see if the problem ever stopped for you? And if you are feeling better? I have not been seen or treated with anything which I am planning on going to the dr next week but I wasn't even sure what dr I should see or how to handle without them thinking I'm crazy. I was also wondering if our pregnancies could have caused some type of imbalance? Since I realized this didn't start until after I had my son too and I see you started after you had your daughter. It's the weirdest thing to happen to me especially since I was never afraid and drive on bridges everyday. Now If I see a bridge I will pull over and refuse to drive or if I am forced to drive over it I have a panick attack.

[AnnieBrooke]

Panic attacks, once you have ruled out physical causes, are best treated psychologically, and you should do it quickly before the panic response creates neural pathways in the brain and sends you into "fight or flight" whenever something reminds you of the scary situation.  Go to a therapist who specializes in phobias, and start on an anti-anxiety med while you're in treatment so you can break the chain of phobic response.  Phobias are a way of encapsulating an overall anxiety and focusing it on one kind of thing, so you don't have to be generally anxious all the time.  Dealing with the anxiety appropriately will limit or remove the phobia.  The other thing that works as well as anti-anxiety meds is exercise, if you will do it.  But a lot of people cannot fit it into their busy lives, and if that is you, do the meds for a while as you get to the root of the phobia.